My husband's poetry

Category: work

  • Backyard buck

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    by

    cfblack
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    Behind my battered backyard fence, bent boughs, bold bamboo, brazen kudzu begin their annual green grab…again. Morning moves slowly over moss. With singing saw and steel bit I split saplings in two and battle brush. -Suddenly- Through the green, a big, bewildered, broad-chested, bristle-boned buck bounds down the brambled bank. Dry leaves dance. My heart…

  • Labor Day

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    cfblack
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    Small limb dressed in blue-green lichen, light as balsa wood, falls at my feet, all used up, breaks into three pieces, fit for the fire. I finish my coffee, rise from my chair, go inside change my clothes, and face the day. 9-2-24

  • Retired marriage counselor

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    by

    cfblack
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    Sitting on your couch Watching reruns on TV You grew tired of trying to return Lonely socks to their mate Told them all to leave Bought a dozen pairs All the same – one size fits all Dumped them in your sock drawer Said, “Choose your own mate. It’s none of my business” 6-25-22

  • Old coffee

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    by

    cfblack
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    Years ago, I had a secretary Who’d lecture me on coffee cup hygiene Wash away weeks of hard earned residue I’d tell her coffee was too weak That old coffee added just enough flavor To the Folgers in my cup She’d walk back to her desk, mutter You can make the coffee tomorrow Next day,…

  • June sweat

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    cfblack
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    By the mailbox, with a little sweat, a mattock and shovel, my grandson and I put three steps in the hillside. Why it took four years to start a project that took four hours I don’t know. I look around to see what project to start next and tell myself there is no rush, because…

  • Business 101

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    cfblack
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    They met at the club talked business over lunch shared menu and life stories Raised a glass of scotch full of ice and courage laughed and drank some more Stained clothes and honor agreed to meet next week for another two martini lunch 7-15-20 (working with zeugma as a figure of speech and therefore, literary…

  • I need a city job

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    by

    cfblack
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    This morning, the humidity is oppressive soon the sky will crack open and storms reveal leaks the sun obscures A park employee on a mower races the storm no time to get off and remove debris shattering sticks, head down as he slays grass Wherever you find a park employee working there are two higher…

  • hand-made chocolate shakes

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    by

    cfblack
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    For the surgical nurse who I worked with when I was drafted I remember sneaking out the service door in the alley behind the hospital Jogging to an ice cream shop for hand-made chocolate shakes while you stood guard at the door We would sit in the nurses’ lounge – you would tell me your…